Manifold assembly

ABSTRACT

A manifold assembly used to control the flow of oxygen in an oxygen concentrator system The manifold assembly provides a series of internal pathways which receive a primary and secondary relief valves via external orifices. The manifold reduces the number of component connections and potential leak paths for control and monitoring of process media.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of process flowmanifolds. More particularly, embodiments of the invention are directedto a manifold used to regulate process flow which reduces potential leakpaths while providing easy connection assembly.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Oxygen concentrators utilize a process by which oxygen is separated fromambient air and stored either as a gas or in liquid form. One methodused to separate oxygen from air is through the use of pressure swingabsorption systems. These systems utilize molecular sieve beds forseparating the ambient air gas mixture into a nitrogen component and anoxygen component. The gas or liquid is then stored under pressurerequiring the need for various pressure relief and check valves toensure that pressure within such a system does not exceed hazardouslevels. Regardless of the method used to obtain concentrated oxygen,leaks between various components including storage media must beminimized. In addition, many oxygen concentrators are portable such thatan ambulatory patient carries or roles an oxygen tank from which a flowof oxygen is supplied.

As noted above, oxygen concentrator systems utilize a series ofconnector assemblies and valves to direct, store and release oxygen to apatient. Typically, these components are discrete and require attachmentto one another using, for example, threaded connections and Teflon®tape. The more discrete components utilized, the longer it takes toassemble the system, the more space required to house the components,and the higher the number of potential leak paths. In addition, mobileoxygen concentrators are susceptible to collisions which may damagethese connector assemblies and components thereby jeopardizing theintegrity of the stored oxygen. Generally, the more components employedin such assemblies the more connections required and the more testingrequired to ensure against leaks. Thus, there is a need for a gas flowsubassembly used in an oxygen concentrator that is compact and easy toassemble with limited leak path potential.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to amanifold assembly. In an exemplary embodiment, the manifold assemblyaccommodate the flow of process media to and from a storage container.The manifold assembly includes a manifold body having a plurality oforifices. A plurality of pathways are disposed within the body whereeach of the pathways is associated with at least one of said orifices. Aprimary relief valve assembly is mounted within a first of the pluralityof orifices. The relief valve assembly is associated with a first one ofthe pathways within the manifold body. A solenoid valve is mounted in athird of the plurality of orifices associated with a third one of thepathways within the manifold body. The solenoid valve controls the flowof media to the storage container. A secondary relief valve assembly ismounted within a second of the plurality of orifices and is associatedwith a second one of the pathways within the manifold body;. The saidsecondary relief valve provides relief of the process media to thestorage container via the solenoid valve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a manifold assembly in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cut away cross sectional view taken along lines A-A of themanifold assembly shown in FIG. 1 with components positioned withintheir respective pathways in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates cut away cross sectional view taken along lines B-Bof the manifold assembly shown in FIG. 1 with components positionedwithin their respective pathways in accordance with the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsof the invention are shown. This invention, however, may be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In thedrawings, like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a manifold assembly 10 having a housingor body 15 with a plurality of orifices as described below. The body 15is configured to receive a plurality of valves and fittings and providesa contained pathway system within the manifold to connect variousorifices, pathways and devices. In this manner, a plurality ofconnections between various primary and secondary relief valves as wellas multiple leak path connections between components within an oxygenconcentrator system is avoided.

Manifold body 15 is defined by a top surface 11, first side wall 12,opposing side wall 13 (shown in FIG. 3), end wall 14 and opposing endwall 14A. Mounting plates 16 and 17 having respective mounting bores 16Aand 17A are used to retain the manifold in a desired position. Theinterior of manifold body 15 has a plurality of pathways to connectvarious components thereby reducing the number of leak pathopportunities there between. Generally, solenoid valve 25 is mounted inorifice 25 a which extends into body 15 from top surface 11 to controlthe flow of process media, for example gaseous oxygen to the variouscomponents. Solenoid 25 may be a three (3) way valve which providesconnection paths between connector assembly 60, fitting assembly 70,bleed line 24 and relief valve 40. Solenoid valve 25 may be a typicalsolenoid which includes a wire coil that opens and closes a mechanicalvalve based on the application of electric current. In thisconfiguration, electric power is supplied by wiring harness 20 via powercable attachment 21. As will be described in more detail below, the pathfrom connection assembly 60 through solenoid valve 25 connects the pathfrom connection assembly 60 to bleed line 24, fitting assembly 70 andsecondary relief valve 40. Solenoid valve 25 also controls theconnection of fitting assembly 70 to a cryostat storage container viaorifice 70A.

A check valve is defined by spring 61, piston 62, seal 63 and inletfitting 64. Connector assembly 60 includes this check valve as well asfilter 65 and compression fitting 66. Connector assembly 60 is disposedwithin a pathway of manifold 15 and connected to a media storage tankvia compression fitting 66. Check valve 62 prevents media from flowingback toward this media storage tank. The process media for thisparticular manifold 15 is gaseous oxygen, but alternative media formsmay also be accommodated. Orifice 72 a receives fitting 72 which is usedto vent unwanted media away from connector assembly 60, extends throughmanifold body 15 and aligns with an outlet of threaded portion 66 a offitting 66.

Generally, there are two (2) pressure relief valve assemblies 40 and 50disposed within manifold body 15 via orifices 40A and 50A respectively.Pressure relief valve assembly 40 is a secondary relief valve and isdefined by seal 42, piston 43, spring 44, spring chamber 45 and diffuser46 and is disposed within manifold body 15 via orifice 40A. Valveassembly 40 may be normally in a shut position where set spring 44 andspring chamber 45 provide a relief path at pressure values based on aparticular application. Secondary relief valve assembly 40 provides aconnection with solenoid valve 25 and the input to a cryostat storagecontainer via fitting assembly 70. Relief valve assembly 50 is theprimary relief valve and is disposed within manifold body 15 via orifice50 a. Primary relief valve assembly 50 is defined by seal 51, piston 52,spring 53, spring chamber 54 and fitting 55. Primary relief valveassembly 50 may set spring 53 and spring chamber 54 to a particular psirating depending on the particular application. Primary relief valveassembly 50 provides connections through manifold body 15 betweenconnector assembly 80 from the cryostat storage container and ventfitting 73 via orifice 73A. The vent fitting 73 may be used to providepressure information related to the cryostat storage tank connectedbetween fitting assemblies 70 and 80. In this manner, primary reliefvalve assembly 50 and secondary relief valve assembly 40 may beconfigured with various pressure ratings. However, by way of exampleonly, in an oxygen concentrator application where oxygen is separatedfrom ambient air, liquefied and stored, primary pressure relief valveassembly 50 may be set between to 20 to 30 psi and secondary pressurerelief valve assembly 4- may be set between 30 to 40 psi.

FIG. 2 is a cut away side view of manifold assembly 10 taken along linesA-A illustrating the placement of connector assembly 60 and secondaryrelief valve 40 within manifold body 15. Solenoid valve 25 has an inlet26 and outlet 27 which extend downward from the top surface 11 ofmanifold body 15. Inlet 26 and outlet 27 provide a connection betweenconnector assembly 60 and first relief valve assembly 40. In addition,bleed line 24 located on the top portion of solenoid 25 provides aconnection between connector assembly 60 and an external vent which maybe, for example, ambient air or tied back to primary relief valve 50 viafitting 55. In particular, inlet 26 provides a pathway connection withconnector assembly 60 and solenoid valve 25 and outlet 27 provides apathway connection with solenoid valve 25 and secondary relief valveassembly 40. As mentioned earlier, the check valve within connectorassembly 60 prevents reverse flow of gas away from solenoid 25. Whenwiring harness 20 supplies power to solenoid valve 25, the solenoidvalve either opens or closes. Solenoid valve 25 may provide a reliefpathway formed from connector assembly 60 to secondary relief valve 40.Solenoid valve may provide a relief path between connector assembly 60and fitting assembly 70. Similarly, solenoid valve may provide a reliefpath between connector assembly 60, bleed line 24 and secondary reliefvalve 40.

FIG. 3 is a cut away cross sectional view taken along lines B-B ofmanifold body 15 shown in FIG. 1 with the various components positionedwithin their respective pathways in accordance with the presentinvention. As described earlier, fitting assembly 80 is connected to acryostat storage tank at one end and to primary relief valve 50 at theother end through manifold body 15. Orifice 73 a receives vent fitting73 which is used to vent a portion of gas away from fitting assembly 80.Vent fitting assembly 73 extends through manifold body 15 from topsurface 11 and aligns with an outlet 45A of spring chamber 45. Ventfitting 73 supplies gaseous media to an external sensor which is used toprovide measuring and monitoring information associated with thecondition of the cryostat tank. A connection is formed within thepathways of manifold body 15 between primary relief valve 50 and fittingassembly 80. In particular, quad ring 51 is disposed between piston 52and first end 81 of assembly 80. A channel 82 provides a connection fromthe cryostat tank through fitting 80 to primary relief valve 50. In thismanner, increased pressure detected from the cryostat tank and measuredfrom vent fitting 73 may be supplied to primary relief valve 50 andvented externally.

While the present invention has been disclosed with reference to certainembodiments, numerous modifications, alterations and changes to thedescribed embodiments are possible without departing from the sphere andscope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims.Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe described embodiments, but that it has the full scope defined by thelanguage of the following claims, and equivalents thereof.

1. A manifold assembly to accommodate the flow of process media to andfrom a storage container, said manifold assembly comprising: a manifoldbody having a plurality of orifices; a plurality of pathways disposedwithin said body, each of said pathways associated with at least one ofsaid orifices; a primary relief valve assembly mounted within a first ofsaid plurality of orifices, said relief valve assembly associated with afirst one of said pathways within said manifold body; a solenoid valvemounted in a second of said plurality of orifices associated with asecond one of said pathways within said manifold body, said solenoidvalve controlling the flow of media to said storage container; and asecondary relief valve assembly mounted within a third of said pluralityof orifices, said secondary relief valve assembly associated with athird one of said pathways within said manifold body; said secondaryrelief valve providing relief of said process media to said storagecontainer via said solenoid valve.
 2. The manifold assembly of claim 1further comprising a check valve mounted within a fourth of saidplurality of orifices connected to said second one of said pathwaysproviding a path between said check valve and said solenoid valve, saidcheck valve configured to prevent the flow of process media away fromsaid solenoid valve.
 3. The manifold assembly of claim 2 furthercomprising a fifth pathway connecting said solenoid valve to a processmedia bleed line.
 4. The manifold assembly of claim 2 wherein said checkvalve is defined by a piston, disposed between a spring and a seal, andan inlet fitting connected to an inlet port.
 5. The manifold assembly ofclaim 1 wherein said secondary relief valve assembly is defined by aseal disposed within said third one of said pathways within saidmanifold body, a piston disposed between said seal and a spring, adiffuser connected to an external vent and a spring chamber disposedbetween said diffuser and said piston and configured to house saidspring.
 6. The manifold assembly of claim 1 wherein said secondary valveassembly is in a normally closed position and configured to provide arelief path from said storage container at particular pressure levels.7. The manifold assembly of claim 1 wherein said primary relief valveassembly is defined by a seal disposed within said first one of saidpathways within said manifold body, a piston disposed between said sealand a spring, a spring chamber configured to house said spring and afitting to accommodate an external vent port.
 8. The manifold assemblyof claim 1 further comprising a vent disposed between said storagecontainer and said primary relief valve assembly, said vent configuredto accommodate a pressure value of said process media associated withsaid storage container.
 9. The manifold assembly of claim 1 furthercomprising a wiring harness connected to said solenoid valve, saidwiring harness configured to accommodate power wires to supply power tosaid solenoid valve to open and close said solenoid valve.
 10. Themanifold assembly of claim 1 further comprising a fitting assemblyconnected between said storage container and said primary relief valveassembly.
 11. The manifold assembly of claim 10 wherein said fittingassembly further comprises a channel which provides said connectionbetween said storage container and said primary relief valve assembly.